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Russia billionaire Prokhorov: I will release Khodorkovsky

© RIA Novosti . Artyom Zhitenev / Go to the mediabankRussian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has pledged to release former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky if he is elected president next March.
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has pledged to release former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky if he is elected president next March. - Sputnik International
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Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has pledged to release former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky if he is elected president next March.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has pledged to release former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky if he is elected president next March.

Prokhorov, Russia’s third richest man with an estimated fortune of $18 billion, announced he will run in next March’s presidential election earlier this week.

“My first decision would be humane: I would pardon Khodorkovsky,” Prokhorov told a news conference on Thursday.

Khodorkovsky has been in jail on charges of fraud and tax evasion since 2003. He was convicted in his second trial last December, and is currently due for release in 2016.

Recently, a documentary film showing the history of the Khodorkovsky affair was released in Moscow and Russia in only a few cinemas, as many refused to show it.

Khodorkovsky was once seen as a potential threat to Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president at the time of his arrest and currently the country’s prime minister.

Putin is also standing in the March election which is expected to get him back to Kremlin.

Over the past two weeks, however, the former KGB agent has been facing growing opposition to his rule on the back of popular protests over the December 4 disputed parliamentary election. Last Saturday saw tens of thousands gather near the Kremlin in Moscow to protest against alleged voter fraud that pushed Putin’s United Russia party to a majority in parliament.

In a Q&A session last year, Putin referred to Khodorkovsky as a “thief” and said that he “belongs in jail.”

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